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Nikkei
I could also list a few acts I have seen before they got huge, then never got huge.

Smartass

My point of saying some of them were not "huge" was simply to acknowledge that it depends by what is meant by "famous."

All the acts I listed are good bands/artists, and are well-known, and therefore are "famous"--as per the title of this thread--but not all of them were "huge."

Sorry, couldn't resist. I like your track record.

Spandou Ballet 1979, in a Studio in London.

U2, 1981, Sittard, Holland. We were smoking a joint and chatting with the band, outside the small venue.

Muse in Paradiso, Amsterdam, 6 jan. 2000. Did not like it, still don't.

The Black Keys in Paradiso (upstairs, small stage), 5 july 2003. Very good.

....and The Scorpions from Germany (are they famous?) in a youth-clubhouse in april 1977.

Scorpions are at least famous enough to be acknowledged by Mick when he's in Berlin.

Rory Gallagher in 1971, a little club in Wellingborough UK, about 100 people. He was at the bar after talking and drinking with us all.

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pgarof
Rory Gallagher in 1971, a little club in Wellingborough UK, about 100 people. He was at the bar after talking and drinking with us all.

And probably KO when the bar had closed the doors.

A few more:
Went to a Thin Lizzy show (Late '70s) support act was some American dude in a pink sport coat, name of Johnny Cougar... Don't think he got to finish his set!
Girl I was dating back in the day was into a singer called Judy Tzuke (beautiful voice) support act was a ska act called Graduate - they showed up a year or two later as Tears for Fears.
Not sur if this one counts, Van Halen touring their first album in the UK as a support act for Sabbath. They were incredible (Van Halen that is)

1971. J. Geils Band, first tour after first album, opening for Canned Heat and Rare Earth. I think they even set up their own equipment, probably one roadie, and sat over by the side of the stage after their blistering set because there was no room for them in the dressing room area. Talked with Peter Wolf, who was very nice to this rather geeky looking 16 year old kid.

Also, the Indigo Girls, around 1983 or 1984, when they were just an acoustic duo playing around Atlanta, no record out yet. Opened for Loudon Wainwright III.

Georgia Satellites
Steve Earle
B-52s
.38 Special

Dave Matthews Band, 1994

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Send It To me
Dave Matthews Band, 1994

Not famous in Europa. I saw the worst (not the song) Memory Motel in Amsterdam 1998, a duet with Dave Matthews. What a loser.

C'mon, we all got a sweet spot for Dave Matthews

Saw Derek Trucks at a small club in about 92 or 93. He was just a little kid and although he wasn't all that special when he played "straight", when he put the slide on he was already scary good.

Also saw "Treat Her Right" in 1988 which was Mark Sandman & Billy Conley's band before Morphine. Bought their album the next day & still love it to this day. Wasn't all that much into Morphine though.

Not sure if North Mississippi Allstars are considered "famous" but I saw them early on in their career as well.

Peace,
Mr DJA

I saw Dave Matthews in the early 90's too - in a club in Richmond VA.
He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket then either. . .

America Bottom Line 1971 just as they had released "Horse with no Name"

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DandelionPowderman

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Silver Dagger
U2 - Marquee London 4 times in 1980
AC/DC - Marquee 1976
The Ramones - supporting Flamin' Groovies at Roundhouse, London July 4 1976
The Stranglers - supporting Pink Fairies at Marquee 1975
Went to college with Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten 74/75
REM - Marquee and Dingwalls 1983

That's cool, Mike! How were they?

The best of the lot were The Ramones at the best gig I have ever attended - the Flamin' Groovies, The Ramones and The Stranglers. It was the gig that kickstarted punk in the UK. Loads of punks who later formed bands were there. I went with Sid Vicious as he was living with my best friend. Crazy guy. The Flamin' Groovies were spectacular - at the top of their game.

AC/DC were dnamic too but so loud. Loved U2 in the early days when they would play A Day Without Me and I Will Follow. And before Bono became a prat.

Credence Clearwater Revival. They were an opening act for someone else in, I think, early '69. I thought they were fantastic.
A group called Seals and Crofts opened for The Moody Blues in '69 in San Berbardino. Nobody had heard of them, but they became big in the early-mid '70's.

I've seen a few. Best memories I have on Free - a few weeks before they hit the charts with All right now.
And Taste.

soundgarden
and hole

Queen, first US tour. Small town university multi-purpose room.
Genesis, same room as Queen, circa 1974 for both.
Seger doing the Live Bullet set in a club, 1975.
U2 in a church, 1981 or so.
'Chili Peppers in a club, 1984-85.
Pearl Jam in a theater opening for the Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins around 92.
Goo Goo Dolls. Club with 50 people, around 1993.
TOOL, club around the same time.

Famous is relative. For example, I didn't see R.E.M.'s first gig at the church in Athens, and I didn't see The Replacements before Bob was, er, replaced by Slim, but all of these profiles grew, some significantly, after I first saw them.

R.E.M. 1983 (quickly grew into my favorite band, and caught them every year they were on the road until they disbanded)
The Replacements 1987
The Flaming Lips 1993
The National 2008
Alabama Shakes 2012 (before they released their first album)

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franzk
A friend of mine told me that he saw Nirvana live before their commercial success. Did you have a chance to see someone before they got famous? Tell us your story

The Police - CBGB
U2 - Pier 84 NYC

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CousinC
I've seen a few. Best memories I have on Free - a few weeks before they hit the charts with All right now.
And Taste.

Great! Dare I ask your age?

Violent Femmes, Shawn Mullins and Fiona Apple before ever hearing their music.

If seeing a band as an opening act promoting their first album counts....there are more.

Saw The WallFlowers as an opening act and had absolutely no idea that lead singer was Bob Dylan's kid until I saw the review in the newspaper the next day.
I remember that my wife and I looked at them and thought they looked a bit contrived (physically). Like...there's the cliche moody bass player wearing the knit cap etc...
Funny part was...we thought Jacob Dylan was trying to be Springsteen-like. Decades earlier, of course, Springsteen was compared to Bob Dylan.


IORR............but I like it!

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Elmo Lewis
Georgia Satellites
Steve Earle
B-52s
.38 Special

The B-52s...I forgot about them! Yes, I saw them in Athens, they used to play at college parties and clubs around town. It was a great time to be in Athens, GA. A lot of great music came out of the town back then.

Gun's and Roses - they shared a rehearsal space in the San Fernando valley with us and we spent considerable time with them chasing guitar tones and other various stupifactants. Axl was always a bit of a whining dickhead but the other guys were pretty cool. They did have a big mirror in the rehearsal space and when it wasn't taken off the wall for obvious reasons, I recall they all spent considerable time fluffing their hair and primping in general. Ha! (sorry Slash)

Wilco - We did club gigs in the midwest with the precursor to this band, Uncle Tupelo. When they split up I stayed friends with them and they would visit and stay with me in California and I'd help work their gigs. At one time we actually used to make fun of Tupelo thinking they were barely good enough to play with us. Man did they prove us wrong. Goes to show that persistence and sticking together can really pay off. As much as I love those guys they haven't been the same since Jay Bennett was asked to leave. RIP Jay

Son Volt- ditto above

Derek Trucks - Worked a show in Missouri with him in the 90's. I just knew he was going to go far. His slide work was already impressive and he was just a super nice guy and very humble.

Stevie Ray Vaughn - Saw him playing a tiny club on the Landing in St. Louis Missouri before anyone had a clue who he was. I was drawn to the club by the wailing LOUD guitar you could hear from a block away. I remember it was hot and humid; Stevie was literally drenched in sweat, obviously a bit wired, and ripping some great Hendrix licks. I thought OK another Hendrix clone, but a good one, never suspected he would become a legend.

Train - Helped them make their first record at a San Francisco studio. Had no idea who they were beforehand but the record was sounding really good from the very first tracking session. To this day I think it was their best record by far.

I've got loads of rock and roll stories but these are probably the most obvious "before they got famous" ones.

peace



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-05-29 22:52 by Naturalust.

Steve Ray Vaughn - First Avenue - NYC
The Clash - Palladium - NYC - 1979

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OutOfTime

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CousinC
I've seen a few. Best memories I have on Free - a few weeks before they hit the charts with All right now.
And Taste.

Great! Dare I ask your age?

LOL Well, let's say I was 15 then (70).